In multiple access wireless communications systems, multiple wireless terminals are typically in competition for limited air link resources. A wireless terminal, operating in a state supporting uplink and downlink user data traffic signaling, typically tries to routinely communicate control information to a base station attachment point. In some systems control information may be communicated in the form of control information reports which allow the base station attachment point to obtain information about the wireless terminal status and effectively allocate resources. As the popularity and variety of wireless communication services has increased, the need to support ever larger numbers of concurrent users has grown. In addition, events and/or time of day can drive peak concurrent user demand.
Changes in the number of concurrent users can affect the demand for control information communication resources. However, it should also be appreciated that different wireless terminals can have different needs at different times and that the demand for resources in many cases is not simply a matter of the total number of terminals in the system that have the ability to communicate user data to the base station.
Different wireless terminals using the same base station attachment point often have different reporting needs and priorities. For example, a first wireless terminal operating from a current stationary position, with no or minimal obstructions between itself and the base station attachment point, and needing to communicate small amounts of user data infrequently may have very different control information reporting needs than another, e.g., second, wireless terminal, e.g., a mobile node in a moving automobile, experiencing rapidly changing channel conditions and/or needing to communicate large amounts of data frequently. Using a universal single control information reporting format to report control information to a base station although simple to implement can result in inefficiencies due to tradeoffs made to accommodate the wide variety of different types of anticipated concurrent users with reasonable degree of effectiveness.
In view of the above, it should be appreciated that there is a need for methods and apparatus which provide flexibility with regard to control information reporting, e.g., flexibility in terms of supported report formats. Improved methods and/or apparatus which tend to match a wireless terminal's current needs and/or conditions to a well suited control information report format would tend to increase efficiency and be beneficial, e.g., in terms of increasing traffic throughput capability. The ability to change control information reporting formats, if it could be supported, could also be useful in some cases.